UN Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture Supports National Agency in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden - After talks with the Federal Government and representatives of several States, the funding of the National Agency has been discussed in detail

A delegation of the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) has visited the Federal Republic of Germany from 8 to 12 April 2013 to advise and support the National Agency for the Prevention of Torture.

The UN Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, like the National Agency for the Prevention of Torture, was established according to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture. It shall conduct independent visits to places of detention in the member states to the Optional Protocol and advise the National Preventive Mechanisms in their work.

The visiting delegation held talks with representatives of the Federal Government and the Governments of different States as well as with the German Institute for Human Rights in Berlin. At the National Agency for the Prevention of Torture in Wiesbaden, information talks were held on the Agency’s mode of operation and its funding and composition. The delegation visited, together with the Federal Agency for the Prevention of Torture, a Federal Police station in Mainz and, together with the Joint Commission of the States for the Prevention of Torture, a facility for detention awaiting deportation in Mannheim.

The SPT will send reports on its visit to the Federal Government and the National Agency.